Giovanni Spadolini

Giovanni Spadolini (21 June 1925 – 4 August 1994) was a Republican Italian politician, the 44th Prime Minister of Italy, the first since 1945 to not to be a member of Christian Democracy, and a newspaper editor, journalist and a historian.

Giovanni Spadolini
44th Prime Minister of Italy
In office 28 June 1981 – 1 December 1982
President	Alessandro Pertini
Preceded by	Arnaldo Forlani
Succeeded by	Amintore Fanfani
President of the Italian Senate
In office 2 July 1987 – 14 April 1994
Preceded by	Giovanni Malagodi
Succeeded by	Carlo Scognamiglio
Acting President of Italy
In office 28 April 1992 – 28 May 1992
Prime Minister	Giulio Andreotti
Preceded by	Francesco Cossiga
Succeeded by	Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Minister of Defence
In office 4 August 1983 – 17 April 1987
Prime Minister	Bettino Craxi
Preceded by	Lelio Lagorio
Succeeded by	Remo Gaspari
Minister of Public Instruction
In office 20 March 1979 – 4 August 1979
Prime Minister	Giulio Andreotti
Preceded by	Mario Pedini
Succeeded by	Salvatore Valitutti
Minister for Culture and Environment
In office 23 November 1974 – 12 February 1976
Prime Minister	Aldo Moro
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Mario Pedini
Member of the Parliament Senator for life In office 2 May 1991 – 4 August 1994 Nominated by Francesco Cossiga Member of the Senate of the Republic In office 25 May 1972 – 1 May 1991 Constituency Milan
Personal details
Born	(1925-06-21)21 June 1925 Florence, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy
Died	4 August 1994(1994-08-04) (aged 69) Rome, Lazio, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945) Italian Republican Party (1959-1994)
Alma mater	University of Florence
Profession	Teacher, journalist, historian

Early life

Spadolini was born in Florence in 1925. In his youth, working in a public library, Spadolini was a republican and fascist-aligned activist, and wrote for the periodical Italia e Civiltà ("Italy and Civilization"), near to Giovanni Gentile, and in a number, Spadolini explicited his anti-Masonry, anti-liberalism and anti-semitism. In 1944, during the Italian Civil War, he joined in to the Italian Social Republic.[1]

In the post-war time (1945–1950), Spadolini revised the majority of his old ideas, and became a moderate conservative to liberal. He also rejected his old anti-semitism for Zionism.[2] He studied law at the University of Florence and shortly after graduation, was appointed professor of contemporary history in the faculty of political science. He also became a political columnist for several newspapers, like Il Borghese, Il Messaggero and Il Mondo, becoming editor-in-chief of the Bologna paper Il Resto del Carlino in 1955, doubling its circulation during his tenure. In 1968, Spadolini moved to Milan where he took over the editorship of Italy's largest newspaper, Corriere della Sera, which job he held until leaving journalism to enter politics. In 1972, he was elected as a senator, going on to serve as minister of the environment and then minister of education. Then in 1979, he was appointed secretary of the small but powerful Italian Republican Party (PRI).

As a journalist, he sometimes used the pseudonym Giovanni dalle Bande Nere. Before entering politics, he was editor of Il Corriere della Sera from 1968 to 1972.

Giovanni Spadolini served as Ministro dei Beni e delle Attività culturali (Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities) from 1974 to 1976.

He was leader of the Italian Republican Party (PRI) from 1979 to 1987, during both the 10th and the 11th Legislatures.

Prime Minister

He served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1981 to 1982, the first since 1945 not to be a member of the Christian Democracy. He pledged to fight corruption (in particular a scandal involving certain Italian political figures connected with a Masonic lodge known as P2) and mounting terrorist violence.

In foreign policy, he was a non-interventionist but also moderately Americanist. In particular, he shifted away from Italy's previous pro-Arab policy, refusing to meet Yasser Arafat during his official visit to Italy to protest the murder of Stefano Gaj Taché, an Italian Jewish child, by PLO terrorists,[3] and suggesting that the Bologna train station bombing may have been perpetrated by the PLO and Gaddafi's Libya, in spite of a majority accusing neo-fascists.

In 1982, after a political crisis between the Minister of the Treasury Beniamino Andreatta (DC) and the Minister of Finances Rino Formica (PSI), Spadolini resigned and formed a new cabinet identical to the former, that collapsed in November when Bettino Craxi's Socialist Party withdrew support.

Later life

However, under his rule, the PRI obtained 5% of all votes for the first time in the 1983 general election.

From 1987 to April 1994, he was President of the Italian Senate. He became Acting President of Italy on 28 April 1992, upon the resignation of President Francesco Cossiga, for a month. Following the electoral success of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, he lost the chairmanship of the Senate to Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini by a single vote. He died four months later in Rome.

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1972	Senate of the Republic	Milan I		PRI	7,231	Y Elected
1976	Senate of the Republic	Milan I		PRI	6,862	Y Elected
1979	Senate of the Republic	Milan IV		PRI	10,134	Y Elected
1983	Senate of the Republic	Milan I		PRI	13,405	Y Elected
1987	Senate of the Republic	Milan I		PRI	7,745	Y Elected

References

1. Spadolini, Giovanni (15 January 1944). "Responsabilità".
2. "Israele accoglie il "vecchio amico" Spadolini". 23 March 1992.
3. "Chi era Stefano Gaj Taché". 3 February 2015.

External links

• Media related to Giovanni Spadolini at Wikimedia Commons

Media offices
Preceded by Vittorio Zincone	Director of the Resto del Carlino 1955–1968	Succeeded by Domenico Bartoli
Preceded by Mario Ferrara	Director of the Nuova Antologia 1955–1994	Succeeded by Cosimo Ceccuti
Preceded by Alfio Russo	Director of the Corriere della Sera 1968–1972	Succeeded by Piero Ottone
Academic offices
Preceded by Furio Cicogna	President of the Bocconi University 1976–1994	Succeeded by Mario Monti
Political offices
New office	Minister for Culture and Environment 1974–1976	Succeeded by Mario Pedini
Preceded by Mario Pedini	Minister of Public Instruction 1979	Succeeded by Salvatore Valitutti
Preceded by Arnaldo Forlani	Prime Minister of Italy 1981–1982	Succeeded by Amintore Fanfani
Preceded by Lelio Lagorio	Minister of Defence 1983–1987	Succeeded by Remo Gaspari
Preceded by Giovanni Malagodi	President of the Senate 1987–1994	Succeeded by Carlo Scognamiglio
Preceded by Francesco Cossiga	President of Italy Acting 1992	Succeeded by Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Party political offices
Preceded by Oddo Biasini	Secretary of the Italian Republican Party 1979–1987	Succeeded by Giorgio La Malfa